Chief Shakes Up Houston P.D. Crime Lab

By Roma Khanna And Steve Mcvicker, The Houston Chronicle

Houston, Tex. Police Chief C.O. Bradford cleaned house at the
department's crime lab Thursday, recommending two top officials be
fired and seven others disciplined, holding them responsible for
problems that have raised questions about the evidence used to win
hundreds of convictions.

Assistant Chief Milton C. Simmons and DNA division supervisor James
Bolding resigned Wednesday rather than be fired. The director of the
crime lab retired in February after the exposure of widespread
problems there, but Bradford also recommended he be fired.

Simmons and Bolding could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The head of the crime lab's ballistics division, which has also faced
questions about the quality and accuracy of its work, was suspended
along with five other analysts in the DNA division.

Bradford described the disciplinary action as "very difficult but
necessary to bring accountability" to the crime lab, where DNA
testing was suspended after an audit uncovered shoddy science, an
undertrained staff and conditions ripe for contamination.

Meanwhile, a union spokesman said the house cleaning did not go far
enough.

"The punishment should have gone all the way to the top," said Hans
Marticiuc, noting that some of Bradford's reasons for the discipline
also apply to the chief himself.

Bradford recommended Simmons be fired because of, among other things,
his "failure to act on several crime lab issues brought to his
attention."

In March, Bradford told the Chronicle, through a spokesman, that he
knew the roof over the crime lab leaked for more than five years,
adding "there is always a concern about evidence contamination when
you have a structural problem." Yet, for years, Bradford did nothing
to permanently fix the roof.

Marticiuc also pointed to Bradford's role in the internal
investigation that led to the punishment announced Thursday. The
investigators asked Bradford a number of questions, which he answered
in a letter that was reviewed by a lawyer, Marticuic said. The union
spokesman called such participation "unprecedented."

Robert Hurst, a department spokesman, said the chief "was involved in
the (internal) investigation" but refused to elaborate.

The recommended discipline cites violations ranging from failure to
oversee the lab and follow accepted guidelines for forensic work to
individual errors on cases, including capital murders. The discipline
fell heaviest on the supervisors, who Bradford said set up improper
procedures that their subordinates followed.

Among the cited employees and their violations:

· Regina Ortiz-Boyd was a DNA analyst until she left the lab in 1999.
She inadvertently deleted all of the information from an analysis in
a sexual assault case.

· Robert Baldwin is head of the lab's ballistics division. He failed
to complete inspections of his area and equipment and did not do
paperwork about his division. Bradford said these failures were the
only reason Baldwin was suspended for seven days, though questions
have been raised about the quality of his work. The Chronicle
reported that Baldwin misidentified a bullet from a capital murder
case and used unsound methods -- shooting a gun 25 times to obtain a
ballistics match -- in another capital case.

· Christi Kim is a DNA analyst who tested the DNA used to convict
Josiah Sutton of a 1998 rape. Sutton has been released from prison on
bond after new DNA tests discredited Kim's. Police investigators
cited her for incorrectly documenting the results of DNA profiles,
failing to report the full set of DNA results in an unnamed case and
making an incorrect data entry in an unnamed capital murder case.

· Joseph Chu is a DNA analyst who incorrectly documented results in
two sexual assault cases and incorrectly reported statistics in a
capital murder case. Houston police would not say what capital murder
case, but the Chronicle reported in May that Chu analyzed the DNA
evidence used against Jorge Villanueva, a death row inmate whose
conviction has been questioned because of unsound lab techniques.

The chairman of the state legislative committee that has been
conducting its own investigation of the crime lab on Thursday praised
Bradford's action.

"I'm very glad to see that after seven years, some action has been
taken to correct the problems that are going on with the Houston
Police Department crime lab," said state Rep. Kevin Bailey,
D-Houston, referring to a 1996 audit of the lab that was supposed to
address some of the problems.

"I hope that from here on out the Police Department works diligently
to make corrections, hire the proper people, and get the crime lab
back up and working and instill confidence in the citizens of Texas."

While the discipline marks the end of the department's major probe
into problems at the lab, questions remain about its future, and
other investigations continue.

Bradford said he has not decided whether he will reopen the DNA
division of the crime lab. He is awaiting the final report from the
National Forensic Science Technology Center that will outline what
steps HPD must take to get its lab accredited for lab quality. HPD is
the largest police department in the county without an accredited
crime lab. The center is expected to complete its report in two
months.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office also continues its
review of more than 1,300 cases in which DNA was analyzed by the lab.
Prosecutors have ordered the retesting of DNA in more than 200 cases.
Retests have been completed in 22 cases, supporting initial findings
in 18 and disagreeing or inconclusive in four.

Meanwhile, two Harris County grand juries are exploring whether
criminal charges should be brought over the problems that began with
the crime lab but have had far-reaching implications at all levels of
the Harris County justice system.